Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-10-31
HELPLESS TO SUCC0R.
A LAKE TRAGEDY DURING THE RE-
CENT DISASTROUS STORM.
Wreck of the Propeller Vernon and
Loss of Between Thirty and
Forty Lives.

ways and Unable to Save Them Because
of the Fury of the Gale-Scenes Mar
rated by a Captain Who was Driven
Through the Dead and Dying-Not n
Soul Saved.
CHICAGO, Oct 3l.-The steamer Vernon of
Chicago, her entire crew of twenty-five per-
sons and ten or twelve passengers, We're lost
in the gale IF Manitowoc Saturday morning.
She was bouni for Chicago with an assorted
cargo and being overloaded. was unable 10
cope with the terrible sets There are no
survivors, hence the story of the disaster can
only be conjsctured, except so mach Of it as
came under the obsery atious of the crews OF
other storm-beaten crafts that passed the
spot where the Vernon made her final plunge.
Capt Moran, of the steamer Superior.
brought the first news OF the disaster,
| when he ran his parity disabled YES
sel into Milwaukee for shelter from
the storm When he was pass
ing ManitowoC about II o'clock Saturday
morning the Superior ran into a field of
wreckage that extended over the lake for
mile arounl. There were barrels, fragments
Of cabin, bed clothes. life-preservers, boots
Everything to indicate that some vessel had
gone to the bottom. Next he ran by four
RATS to which men were clinging desperate
ly, and then boat containing three men
and a woman was seen tossing helplessly on
the waves. One of the castaw8ys stood up
and waved his coat as a signal OF distress, but
the Superior herself was disabled by broken
tiller, and her crew to n man was at work
struggling to keep her before the gale, and Cap
tain Moran could not 60 to the assistance of
the unfortunates On one of the RATS was a
man who, despite the heavy sea, was standing
and waving his hand to attract the attention
Of the lookout on board the propeller When
the latter shot by him without answering his
signal the poor fellow sank down in despair
TO perish. A mile farther south was another
man half dead from fatigue and exposure
The propeller passed so close to him that he
could almost have heard her, but ne was so
far gone that he never once raised his head
The schooner Blazing Star, Capt Cammer-
ford, passed through the wreckage half an
hour after the Superior, and she arrived
here Saturday night Capt. Commercials
recital Of the scenes he witnessed is at once
startling and pathetic. 1t is follows: ave
passed Two Rivers Point about IL o'clock
Saturday morning running under the peak
Of the foresail and jb We could not carry
any more canvas; We did not need any more
for we were sailing faster than ever sailed
in my life befora Such seal 1t was simply
awful Great waves would form behind us,
rush down and tower over our quarter like
great mountains and then they would break
and plunge us ahead with fearful velocity
We were momentarily expecting a change of
wind, and were looking quite sharp for the
first indication of it, when one of the boys
forward sang out There's man
ahead We could just hear his
voice above the storm, and | ran
forward as fast as ! could to sac what was the
matter. The man standing on the fore
castle deck, and his arm was pointed over
the weather bow. See there he screamed,
and looking in the direction he indicated |
saw the body of man encased in a life
pressrver and tossing about on the waves.
We flew by it so fast that it would have been
almost useless to have attempted to pick it
up even if the storm would have permitted
| us to heave to at all l was about to turn
away and go aft again, when the lookout
once more called my attention to the water,
| and an instant aftsrward saw another body,
| which, like the first one, was encased in
/ cork life-preservsr. Then we saw another
| body, thsn another and another. and we held
4 N
| Some of them fioated so close that l
almost thought they would be lifted over
| our rail by the seas, but they. were all car
rled past and left far astern. As we flew by
these silent evidences of shipwreck the sailor,
poor fellow, became almost frenzied with ex-
| element and he would have risked his life
if had not restrained him, in attempting to
| rescue them. Once when We were buried
| clear to the rail and the water was roaring
/ and foaming almost at our feet we saw a
| body dead ahead less than 100 feet away. In
! an instant we would be on top of it. and the
| sailor leaped forward toward the bowsprit to
| catch it before we raised on the next sea
| Divining his intention | seized him, and by
sheer force held him where he stood and it
| WAS well did so, for huge sea broke over
| us, and we needed all our strength to hold on
| to the ma:nstay and save ourselves from be
| ing dragged overheard
When we were free to act again the body
of the unfortunate man was far to leeward
and astern, and past all human aid A short
time afterward We saw an upturned boat
that was being tossed around like a cork,
but there was nothing to show that it had
| been occupied. There were no bodies nor any
sign of life near it, and we gave it only a
passing thought What saw next made my
heart almost stand still ! had been looking
ahead, watching anxiously for a boat or any
| thing that would show that some of the I'M
| fortunate crew had escaped, when my eyes
fell on a small object that seemed to be g man
standing upright in the water The object
disappeared as il settled down in the trough
of the seas, and would be lost to sight for
several seconds, and then it would come up
again on the top of wave and
remain poised there just like buoy
Or spar It's man, and he's waving
his hand at u.s. said the sailor at my
side, and looked again more closely than be-
fore. Then saw it was a man, aud that he
was standing on what seemed to me to be the
top of pilot house or piece of hurricane
deck He was holding on to his frail float
with one hand by means of rope net work,
while he was using his unemploy ed hand in
waving his hat as signal to us. ran aft
and called my mate to see the poor fellow,
and when Mitchell got on deck we were
nearly abreast, and less than 200 feet away
The man was exerting himself to his utmost,
waving first one hand and then another,
and shouting all the time like mad to attract
our attention. One moment he would be
buried in seas and the next he would be
riding on the crest Of wave, and at such
times We could almost distinguish his feat
urss
@We were plunging past him with ire
msndous slsed, and knew it would be only
a moment before he would be beyond our
aid. ! looked at the sea then at the rag of
foresail andIthen asked myself, Can l save
himf While l was still bordering Mitch
ell my mate, rushed up to me and exclaimed:
Captain, for heavens sake hsave to, and if
any man Of the crew'l 60 with me I'll lower
the boA and save that man
This aroused me, and told Mitchell 1t
would be little short of suicide to attempt